Let's make bromance great again! Trump, Putin, why.

The World
Vladimir Putin

Talk about an unlikely bromance: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Last week, Putin described Trump as "bright and talented." Trump repaid the compliment, saying Putin was a strong, powerful leader.

It all comes as no surprise to Moscow-based writer Natalia Antonova.

“I’ve been saying for months that whenever Trump opens his mouth and says something, I’m going ‘OK, where have I heard this before? Who does he remind me of? And I was like, of course, it’s Vladimir Putin.' They are so alike.”

“It’s so predictable and natural for these two to have a love-fest at this point,” says Antonova. “Because they both play on people’s fears; they both play on people’s insecurities. You know, Putin gave rise to the saying that Russia is getting up off its knees, and now Trump is going to, you know ‘make America great again.’ They’re basically appealing to the same kinds of people. So it makes perfect sense for them to now be complimenting each other."

Both men are pretty popular.

“I might get in trouble for saying this,” says Antonova, “but I do think that Russians have more of an excuse to like Putin, because honestly Russia has never had a highly functioning political system. Russia went through an absolute mess in the 20th century — the first half was completely brutal. I think Russian society is deeply traumatized, and is suffering from PTSD. And there’s a sense of insecurity that someone like Putin can really draw on. And I don’t think Americans really have as much of an excuse to be insecure.”

But Antonova doesn't think the relationship between the two men will last. “Even if Trump gets elected, Putin is still going to need the Americans to be the bad guys and the boogie-men. ... I really don’t see Putin — maybe I’m wrong — but I really don’t see him being ‘oh, Americans are our friends now.’” 

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